1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for covering a disc wheel for use in a motor vehicle, and more particularly to a wheel cover mounted on the disc wheel, which is placed on the outermost side of a wheel of the motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The disc wheel of the motor vehicle such as an automobile is disposed adjacent a brake device and thus receives heat through heat transfer which occurs in a disc rotor or brake drum of the brake device while braking. The conventional disc wheel, therefore, is constructed so as to discharge such heat to the atmosphere. However, the wheel cover mounted on the disc wheel has been recently made of plastics, which have a low heat transfer characteristic. Therefore, the wheel cover is provided with openings for ventilation, through which the heat is to be discharged to the atmosphere.
Since the wheel cover is mounted on the outermost side of the wheel of the vehicle, the openings in the wheel cover cause a considerable air resistance for the vehicle being running, especially at a high speed. Further, there is a fact that in case the vehicle is running at a high speed, especially on a so-called highway, the heat discharging performance from the wheel cover is not so necessitated as on a regular busy road, since the braking is not so often made on the highway.